taylor@hplabsc.UUCP (06/23/86)
Computers and Society Digest, Number 10
Wednesday, January 15th 1986
Topics of discussion in this issue...
Secret Service and NCIC database (2 msgs)
Pharmacy vs '1984'
User interface design
The Lack of Submissions (3 msgs)
Comments on submission responses
enrollment in Computers and Society mail list
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Date: 10 Jan 1986 12:13 EST (Fri)
From: "Leonard N. Foner" <hplabs!FONER%OZ.AI.MIT.EDU@MC.LCS.MIT.EDU>
Subject: Secret Service and NCIC database
I note that this dates from summer 1983. Has there really been
nothing else about it since then? Is the system now in operation, or
was it thwarted? Sure *something* must have happened since then on
this issue.
Anyone know any more about this?
<LNF>
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Date: Sat, 11 Jan 86 15:04:36 est
From: hplabs!ihnp4!uvacs!hsd (Harry S. Delugach)
Subject: Questionable NCIC use
The basic issue raised by Congressman Edwards is an issue that Congress
(and perhaps society at large) is not willing to face -- namely, how to
determine priorities in government programs. Here we have a clear-cut
government goal -- protection of the President of the United States.
Who could argue with its importance to the national interest? Yet how
far are we willing to go (i.e., how many other national interests must be
sacrificed or given lower priority) in order to meet that goal?
FBI agents, Secret Service agents, and other government officials don't feel
that privacy is a real issue. After all, THEY have nothing to hide, right?
So why should I feel threatened if *I* have nothing to hide? It's because I
know that once I have any record at all within the "Criminal Justice System",
I will be branded for life, regardless of the eventual outcome of my case(s).
The officers and agents of that system don't realize the insidious power
that it wields over ordinary citizens. To them, the Privacy act is just
a nuisance. Catching criminals is their job, but unfortunately Congressman
Edwards is right -- a "criminal", to them, is anyone whose name is printed
out by the NCIC.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 10 Jan 86 22:21:01 est
From: Jean-Francois Lamy <hplabs!lamy%utai@TORONTO>
Subject: Pharmacy vs '1984'
On the discussion on pharmacy and computers:
In Quebec, Medicare is run by the province and provides across-the-board
coverage. A consequence of this is that the governement, which pays
doctors on the basis of the medical acts performed, may conceivably
keep the the medical history of a most if not all the citizens.
Also, medications are either free or subsidized for senior citizens and
people on welfare. Something like 90% of the drugstores is
computerized, with most linked to time-sharing computers. The companies
providing the computing services prepare tapes every month with the data
describing prescriptions for which reimbursment is expected. These are
sent to the government agency, which in turn arranges for direct
deposits to be made in the appropriate bank accounts. "Magnetic red
tape", if you wish...
My father-in-law, a pharmacist, is far more concerned with video tapes
made by drug companies aimed at the public, than he is with information
on drug interactions, which he welcomes, even if incomplete. In the latter
case, he retains professional responsabilty, whilst in the first case he
is completely bypassed and his role in the medical education of the patient
is completely ignored.
The MediCare system has been put gradually in place since 1972 and I am
not aware of abuses made public. The Quebec Charter of Rights and
Liberties and the Access to Information Law seem to have enough teeth
but have not yet been challenged with respect to such governmental
databases.
--
Jean-Francois Lamy
Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto,
Departement d'informatique et de recherche operationnelle, U. de Montreal.
CSNet: lamy@toronto.csnet
UUCP: {utzoo,ihnp4,decwrl,uw-beaver}!utcsri!utai!lamy
CDN: lamy@iro.udem.cdn (lamy%iro.udem.cdn@ubc.csnet)
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 11 Jan 86 15:15:59 est
From: hplabs!ihnp4!uvacs!hsd (Harry S. Delugach)
Subject: User interface design
Many software engineers are now using various methods which come under the
heading of "Prototyping" or "Rapid Prototyping" whereby a quick-and-dirty
system with only limited functionality is used to determine system
requirements and specifications. Actual users get to use the prototype to
decide whether the chosen interface possesses the learnability, flexibility,
and usability that David England mentions. Check out some references on
rapid prototyping to see how effective it's been.
I see prototyping as having some advantages over the incremental development
approach. First, it takes less time to get something built that the user can
play with. This tells designers at an early stage whether they're on the
right track. Secondly, it invites design tools that permit quick adaptation
and modification. Thirdly, the user can start thinking about interfaces
him/herself; this often leads to design improvements since the user can now
think about the notion of the "feel" of a system. Finally it allows design
flaws (particularly ones that result from unforseen interactions between
envisaged components) to be detected early, when corrections are relatively
less expensive than later stages.
Harry S. Delugach University of Virginia, Dept. of Computer Science
UUCP: cbosgd!uvacs!hsd or ..!decvax!mcnc!ncsu!uvacs!hsd
CSNET: hsd@virginia
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Date: 12 Jan 86 18:00:37 PST (Sunday)
Subject: Re: The Lack of Submissions (an editorial comment)
From: hplabs!Hamilton.OsbuSouth@Xerox.ARPA
Dave,
How long have you been on the net? You have it COMPLETELY backwards.
My suspicion is that a lot of people aren't
too comfortable using the computer to create
and send messages...
The problem is that people are far TOO comfortable. It's called
INFORMATION OVERLOAD. I get around 100 msgs a day, most of which are
NOT junk. I get maybe five ARPAnet digests, which come out an average
of about twice a week each. Pretty soon I'll have too cut back even
more (e.g. if RISKS doesn't get off its SDI kick).
p.s. also please explain how your digest is supposed to be different
from the grand-daddy, HUMAN-NETS.
You may consider this a submission only if it isn't redundant with a
couple of dozen others, in which case please summarize.
Thanks,
--Bruce
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 86 9:41:51 PST
From: Mark Abel <hplabs!Abel.pa@Xerox.ARPA>
Subject: Re: The Lack of Submissions (an editorial comment)
Dave,
Regarding "The Lack of Submissions":
------------------------------
From: what!Abel.pa@Xerox.ARPA
I think that this is because there are very few people who are expert in
*both* a technical field *and* the social sciences. I would guess that
people tend not to contribute, when they don't feel knowledgable in the
subject area. Its probably much easier for technologists to make a
contribution to a more "purely technical" digest, such as one
discussing, say, computer architecture, than to a digest dealing with
"softer" material.
This isn't to imply that people aren't interested in "Computers and
Society", because I feel that they are. I'm just trying to explain the
lack of contributions.......
-Mark Abel
Xerox PARC
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From: Dave England <seismo!unido!comp.lancs.ac.uk!de>
Subject: Re: Lack of contributions
Dave,
I think part of the reason is competition from established groups like
mod.human-nets and net.cog-eng. It might take a while for Computers and
Society Digest to establish it's own identity so don't despair !
Dave
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 86 7:21:53 MST
From: hpcnou!dat (Dave Taylor)
Subject: Comments on submission responses
Well! Lots of feedback on the topic of user submissions!
Bruce @ Xerox asks where this group differs from the Human-Nets
group. Rather than me say, I'd be interested in the perceptions
of those reading this group...
1. Do you read Human-Nets?
2. If so, how would you describe the difference between the
two groups? If there isn't a difference, are you suprised/
disappointed/annoyed??
3. If you don't read Human-Nets, the charter for that group is
"Mailing list originally consisting of the combined membership
of INFO-PCNET, HOME-SAT, and TELETEXT mailing lists. Human-Nets
has discussed many topics, all of them related in some way to
the theme of a world-wide computer and telecommunications network
usually called WorldNet. The topics have ranged very widely, from
something like tutorials, to state of the art discussions, to
rampant speculation about technology and it's impact. The list
is extremely large, making it necessary to batch messsages sent to
the list and distributing them once each day during off peak periods
to avoid overloading the system.
(for those who are getting interested, you can contact Charles
McGrew (a really nice, helpful guy) at McGrew@Rutgers.ARPA for
more information - and tell 'em Dave sent ya :-)
Does it sound like a conflict of topics to you?
Isn't this fun? Maybe we could start mail.survey and each issue
would have a survey on something or the other ... (just joking!)
-- Dave
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Date: Mon, 13 Jan 86 17:54:23 -0100
From: hplabs!seismo!mcvax!daimi!brad (Bradley Hartfield)
Subject: enrollment in Computers and Society mail list
Dear folks --
I've just seen a posting that informed me of the existence of your
mailing group. My interests are exactly in these areas, which, from my
exposure, are not yet widely and reasonably discussed.
My current work is on human-computer interaction. This concerns not only
how we model what we know, and how we communicate, but how that formalized
model then changes the world for the users of it. At any rate, without
going into more detail, I feel that I could learn from and perhaps
contribute to the discussions indicated in the posted description of the
group. Please sign me on!
Brad Hartfield
.. mcvax!diku!daimi!brad
Aarhus University, Aarhus Denmark
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